Redistribution Policy

If you wish to borrow, quote, or redistribute anything you find on this site, please read these guidelines first. You will be deemed to have read them and to have agreed to them.

Unfortunately, copyright infringement is commonplace on the Internet. Some of it is unintentional: John e-mails Jane the text of an interesting article he came across, thinking she'll be interested, too. Inadvertently, John has just made himself liable to a lawsuit for damages (money) by infringing upon the copyright on the article he e-mailed.

Other infringement is intentional and reflects an indifference by most of the public to the copyright rights of owners of such types of intellectual or artistic property as music and computer software.

Think I'm exaggerating? There are currently lawsuits pending in the courts in which the only thing complained of is that Party A put a link on its site to Party B's site without first getting Party B's written permission! And any Raiders fan worth his or her salt knows Al Davis will sue anything that moves.

Lawsuits are unpleasant, time-consuming, and expensive, and I don't need the aggravation! The mere cost of defending myself against a frivolous lawsuit, even if it were ultimately thrown out by the courts, would force me to shut this site down. Thus, the following two rules:

1. To download or redistribute a newspaper, wire service, or other commercial provider's text document which you accessed from this site, please download the entire document (including HTML code) and redistribute it in that same fashion. In this manner you will at least ensure that all bylines and credits are properly included.

   Note that many sites to which I provide links expressly prohibit redistribution of their material. Raiders.com, as an example, expressly prohibits any copying or redistribution. I have no right, nor do I purport to confer upon you any right, to redistribute the property of others. You do so expressly at your own risk.

2. To borrow from, copy, quote or redistribute material which is my property—including, but not limited to, my opinion pieces, news summaries, team rosters, and design ideas—you must first e-mail me to ask for my written permission. Such permission will normally be freely granted so long as your purpose is not for profit.

There is one exception, which is called the Fair Use Doctrine. You may quote briefly from things I have written if you are reviewing or commenting on this site for publication. Such quotes should not exceed 200 words.

First published November 30, 1995.  Last updated April 19, 2003.